An electrical connector requires an assembly of one or more metal contacts, for electrical termination to an electrical conductor, and a plastic connector body or housing, which encircles and insulates the metal contact and a terminated portion of the electrical conductor. The electrical contacts are produced along a continuous strip which may be reeled on a spool and let out as needed for automated assembly of the contacts into the connector bodies. The connector bodies are fabricated by plastic molding apparatus. Such apparatus is not suited for producing plastic connector bodies on continuous strip. Accordingly, the bodies are molded individually or in groups along a molded strip segment of finite length. Many strip segments must be joined together to provide a continuous strip of serially arranged connector bodies suitable for automated assembly with the contacts.
Connecting strip segments together into a continuous strip was heretofore time consuming. According to one process, an operator fed individual strip segments to a heat staking machine which applied heat and pressure to remelt and join together consecutive strip segments. An improved process involves joining strip segments as they are being produced in a molding apparatus. Each time a molding apparatus is cycled to produce a strip segment, a previously made strip segment is positioned at the molding apparatus and is over-molded with the strip segment being produced.